The Hunger Games: Catching Fire Adds A New Peacekeeper

Man, the guy who's going to play Finnick in Catching Fire must be holding out for a seriously huge paycheck. That's the only way I can explain the drawn-out casting process for the Hunger Games sequel, which is set to go into production this fall in time for its November 22, 2013 release, and has been adding cast members at a lightning pace lately-- just none of them in the biggest new role, Finnick, which remains unfilled.

So while we wait for the golden boy of District 4 to join the cast, we've got another bit of news on a smaller role that's filled. Variety reports that Patrick St. Esprit, star of TV's Sons of Anarchy, has been cast as Romulus Thread, the harsh and violent Peacekeeper dispatched by the government to maintain order in District 12, the poor mining town that's home to our heroine, Katniss Everdeen (Jennifer Lawrence). Thread is a small role but an important one in the middle section of the book, where Katniss and Peeta (Josh Hutcherson) have returned from their Victory Tour and attempt to settle into life in District 12, even when the totalitarian government continues cracking down on their relatively peaceful way of life.

If you don't know St. Esprit from Sons of Anarchy, he also appeared in Super 8, Green Zone and on The Shield-- all, unsurprisingly, in very authoritative roles. He's basically going to have to play a character you'll hate instantly in Catching Fire, and though he's surely a lovely man in person, he's got the resume to back that kind of performance up. Lionsgate hasn't confirmed St. Esprit's casting-- they're typically silent on casting news until they're good and ready-- but hopefully they'll ratify it soon, as well as announcing the long-anticipated news of who will play Finnick.